Listening to Strangers: Classroom Discussion in Democratic Education

2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 2815-2832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Parker
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Coming Of Age ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Classroom Discussion ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere

Background/Context The literature on classroom discussion often undercuts itself by treating discussion only as an instructional method, confining its role to the instrumental. Although discussion does serve as an effective means to other curricular ends (teaching with discussion), the capable practice of discussion can also be considered a curriculum objective in its own right (teaching for discussion). The latter is justified on the grounds that listening and speaking to what Danielle Allen called “strangers” about powerful ideas and public problems is crucial to democratic citizen formation; indeed, it defines democracy, signaling a citizen's coming of age while at the same time creating the public sphere that democracy requires—a space where political argument and action flourish. Purpose /Focus of Study The author outlines a discursive approach to the cultivation of enlightened political engagement in schools. He argues that schools are the best available sites for this project because they have the key assets: diverse schoolmates (more or less), problems (both academic and social), “strangers” (schoolmates who are not friends or family), and curriculum and instruction (schools are intentionally educative places). Ambitious classroom discussion models—for example, seminars and deliberations—can mobilize these assets; but new habits, especially those that build equity and trust, are needed. Setting Two empirical cases of classroom discussion ground the argument in classroom practice. In one, high school students deliberate whether physician-assisted suicide should be legalized in their state. In the other, suburban middle school students conduct a seminar on Howard Fast's novel of the American revolution, April Morning. Research Design This is an analytic essay/argument. Conclusions/Recommendations Schools in societies with democratic ideals are obligated to cultivate enlightened and engaged citizens. Helping young people form the habits of listening to strangers, at that very public place called school, should advance this work.

scholarly journals Separating Spheres

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Pepin ◽  
David Cotter
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gender Attitude ◽  
The Family ◽  
Monitoring The Future ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Egalitarian Attitudes

The authors investigated whether trends in attitudes about gender were consistent with the gender stall primarily occurring in the family domain and examined potential mechanisms associated with changing gender norms. Using data from Monitoring the Future surveys (1976–2015), the authors assessed three components of trends in youth’s beliefs about gender: the marketplace, the family, and mothers’ employment. Findings showed continued increases in egalitarianism from 1976 throughthe mid-1990s across all three dimensions. Thereafter, support for egalitarianism in the public sphere plateaued at high levels, rising support for mothers’ employment persisted at a slower pace, and conventional ideology about gender in families returned. The changing demographic composition of American high school students did not account for the gender attitude trends. Youth’s mothers’ employment and increased education were related to increased egalitarianism. Changes in population averages of mothers’ employment and educational attainment were only weakly associated withincreases in egalitarian attitudes.

scholarly journals World War I commemoration and student historical consciousness: A study of high-school students' views

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Innes ◽  
Heather Sharp
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
World War I ◽  
History Education ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
World War ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Public ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
The Public Sphere

Commemoration of World War I (WWI), and specifically the Gallipoli campaign, holds a significant place in the Australian public imagination. This is currently heightened with the WWI centenary commemorations (2014–18) occurring on a local, national and international scale. In the current political climate, there has been a resurgence of nationalism amid fear of terrorist attacks and uncertain political futures. Traditionally, history education has been considered, by some, a tool for the promotion of national identity, despite history education literature and many curriculum documents increasingly focused on fostering historical consciousness in students. The Gallipoli campaign, and subsequent Anzac mythology, has maintained a strong focus in Australia as a means of promotion, and often celebration, of Australian culture in public history, including personal and familial connections via ancestral participation in WWI. This article explores the types of historical education conducted in three high schools. As part of a regular history lesson, students were provided with five sources and a series of questions to answer about the Gallipoli campaign as a historical and commemorative event. Students' responses are analysed in this paper using Jörn Rüsen's typology of historical consciousness (Rüsen, 2004) to gain an understanding of how students think about the commemoration of the Gallipoli campaign. Specifically, this paper is interested in students' navigation of collective memory and nationalistic narratives evident in the public sphere and popular culture, and how these inform a sense of historical consciousness.

After the Blackbird Whistles: Listening to Silence in Classrooms

2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 2833-2849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Schultz
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
School Students ◽  
Student Talk ◽  
The Individual

Background/Context Students spend a large part of their time in schools in silence. However, teachers tend to spend most of their time attending to student talk. Anthropological and linguistic research has contributed to an understanding of silence in particular communities, offering explanations for students’ silence in school. This research raised questions about the silence of marginalized groups of students in classrooms, highlighting teachers’ role in this silencing and drawing on limited meanings of silence. More recently, research on silence has conceptualized silence as a part of a continuum. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The purpose of this project was to review existing literature and draw on two longitudinal research studies to understand the functions and uses of silence in everyday classroom practice. I explore the question, How might paying attention to the productivity of student silence and the possibilities it contains add to our understanding of student silence in educational settings? Silence holds multiple meanings for individuals within and across racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. However, in schools, silence is often assigned a limited number of meanings. This article seeks to add to educators’ and researchers’ tools for interpreting classroom silence. Research Design The article is based on two longitudinal qualitative studies. The first was an ethnographic study of the literacy practices of high school students in a multiracial high school on the West Coast. This study was designed with the goal of learning about adolescents’ literacy practices in and out of school during their final year of high school and in their first few years as high school graduates. The second study documents discourses of race and race relations in a postdesegregated middle school. The goal of this 3-year study was to gather the missing student perspectives on their racialized experiences in school during the desegregation time period. Conclusions/Recommendations Understanding the role of silence for the individual and the class as a whole is a complex process that may require new ways of conceptualizing listening. I conclude that an understanding of the meanings of silence through the practice of careful listening and inquiry shifts a teacher's practice and changes a teacher's understanding of students’ participation. I suggest that teachers redefine participation in classrooms to include silence.

scholarly journals Engaging Children in Engineering Design Through Popular Media

2006 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 513-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel D. Frey ◽  
Marisa Wolsky
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Group Testing ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Public Broadcasting ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Public ◽  
Professional Societies ◽  
Talented People ◽  
K 12

We submit that there is currently an urgent need to educate the public about engineering and attract talented people to the profession. Further, we argue that such efforts are most effective when they reach young children, and that popular media most be employed to have the desired national impact. These ideas have motivated a major new effort whose central element is a television show for public broadcasting. The television program will feature teams of high school students engaged in solving engineering challenges posed by other kids and adults. Three prototype episodes have been filmed and two of these have undergone focus group testing and analysis. These early tests indicate that the proposed format can engage an audience while reinforcing key lessons about engineering. Collaborative opportunities are currently being sought with engineers, professional societies, and K–12 educators.

Drugs in the High School

1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven E. Lerner ◽  
Ronald L. Linder ◽  
Judy C. Drolet
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Lower Grade ◽  
Public High School ◽  
Upward Trend ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Public ◽  
Grade Levels ◽  
Public High School Students

An upward trend of psychoactive drug use within the lower grade levels was observed among 616 high school students. Although different patterns of drug use exist between parochial and public high school sophomores, by their junior year the two groups were similar. Over half of the public high school students claimed they take drugs either “for kicks” or “for curiosity”.

scholarly journals Using Scientific Conferences to Engage the Public on Climate Change

2017 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-230
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Hicke ◽  
John T. Abatzoglou ◽  
Steven Daley-Laursen ◽  
Jamie Esler ◽  
Lauren E. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
School Students ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
The Public ◽  
Local Climate Change ◽  
Conference Attendance

Abstract Climate change is often perceived as controversial in the public’s view. One meaningful way scientists can address this problem is to engage with the public to increase understanding of climate change. Attendees of scientific conferences address climate change within meetings yet rarely interact with the public as part of conference attendance. Here, we describe outreach (sending experts into the community) and inreach (bringing the public to a conference) activities at the 2015 Northwest Climate Conference in Idaho that were designed to increase the local community’s understanding of climate change and foster interaction between scientists and the public. Conference attendees volunteered to visit community schools and civic groups to give presentations and engage in a discussion on climate change. We designed a well-attended evening plenary session for the public that featured an experienced speaker who described local climate change impacts important to the community. Local high school students attended the conference, and several were mentored by conference attendees. We reached an estimated 1,000 students and 500 other members of the public in person and many others via advertising and newspaper articles. Keys to our success were local contacts with excellent connections to schools, civic organizations, local government officials, interest groups, and a pool of motivated, enthusiastic conference attendees who were already traveling to the area. We encourage other conference organizers to consider these activities in their future meetings to increase public knowledge of climate change, particularly given the urgency of action needed to limit future climate change and its impacts.

scholarly journals A Youth-Leader Program in Baltimore City Recreation Centers: Lessons Learned and Applications

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela C. B. Trude ◽  
Elizabeth Anderson Steeves ◽  
Cara Shipley ◽  
Pamela J. Surkan ◽  
Priscila de Morais Sato ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
School Students ◽  
Obesity Epidemic ◽  
Train The Trainer ◽  
Recreation Centers ◽  
American Children

Peer-led interventions may be an effective means of addressing the childhood obesity epidemic; however, few studies have looked at the long-term sustainability of such programs. As part of a multilevel obesity prevention intervention, B’More Healthy Communities for Kids, 16 Baltimore college students were trained as youth-leaders (YLs) to deliver a skill-based nutrition curriculum to low-income African American children (10-14 years old). In April 2015, formative research was used to inform sustainability of the YL program in recreation centers. In-depth interviews were conducted with recreation center directors ( n = 4) and the YLs ( n = 16). Two focus groups were conducted with YLs ( n = 7) and community youth-advocates ( n = 10). Barriers to this program included difficulties with transportation, time constraints, and recruiting youth. Lessons learned indicated that improving trainings and incentives to youth were identified as essential strategies to foster continuity of the youth-led program and capacity building. High school students living close to the centers were identified as potential candidates to lead the program. Based on our findings, the initial intervention will be expanded into a sustainable model for implementation, using a train-the-trainer approach to empower community youth to be change agents of the food environment and role models.

scholarly journals ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ВИКОРИСТАННЯ ТЕКСТІВ У ВИКЛАДАННІ ПРАКТИКИ УСНОГО І ПИСЬМОВОГО МОВЛЕННЯ ДЛЯ РОЗВИТКУ КОМУНІКАТИВНИХ НАВИЧОК СТУДЕНТІВ

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-287
Author(s):  
S. V. RYZHKOVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Psychological Climate ◽  
Speech Communication ◽  
School Students ◽  
Senior Stage ◽  
Language Environment ◽  
High Level

The article considers the theoretical issues of teaching speech on the basis of the text and tried to reveal the possibilities of practical application of this technique. As a result, it is emphasized that this way of learning oral speech (both dialogic and monologue) has a number of advantages. The use of text makes it possible to make the learning process interesting and increases motivation. At the same time, to get good results, work on the text must be well organized. Close attention should be paid to the selection of texts taking into account the age and individual characteristics of students. Adherence to these requirements allows to overcome the shortcomings of the system of exercises presented in the textbook. When organizing work at the senior stage, students should be given the opportunity to show their individuality in the process of performing creative tasks. Our proposed set of tasks makes it possible to meet the requirements for the level of development of oral skills at the senior stage. However, as we have already found out, the benefits of including creatively oriented speaking tasks are difficult to overestimate, because students not only learn new lexical material and develop phonetic skills, but they also «immerse» in the language environment, which allows students to learn a foreign language in more depth. Thanks to such tasks, a favorable psychological climate is created in the classroom, the psychological load is reduced, and emotional tone is increased. As practice has shown, the task of teaching speech is one of the most effective means of improving the level of language proficiency of students in almost all aspects. As for the development of attention in adolescence, the amount of attention, the ability to maintain its intensity for a long time and move from one subject to another are at a given age at a very high level of development. However, the attention becomes selective, significantly dependent on the direction of interests. Another feature of the development of the cognitive sphere in adolescence is that the mental growth of high school students is not so much in the accumulation of skills and changes in certain properties of intelligence, as in the formation of individual style of mental activity. The style of thinking is largely determined by the type of nervous system, as well as the student's ability to balance their individuality with the objective, external conditions of activity. All that has been said above indicates the need for an individual approach to learning that stimulates the independence and creativity of students. Key words: speech, communication skills, text, approach, educational environment.

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